Crown Resorts collects USD 664M from Chinese players

The convictions relate to billionaire James Packer’s Australian casino group’s targeting of Chinese VIP players – leading to large revenues for the house.

Regulators will now consider whether there was any breach of license, while shareholders and executives must now assess how much the casino relied on the Chinese market.

Papers relating to the trial, obtained by The Australian Financial Review, revealed that Chinese gamblers lost $664 million in Crown casinos.

A complicated gaming market

Gambling is illegal on the Chinese mainland, and Chinese authorities exercise strict controls on neighboring territories and states which do allow gambling.

While citizens may be permitted to attend approved venues such as the popular Macau gaming district, the targeting of Chinese gamblers by other nations and districts is not accepted.

It is for this offense that Crown Resorts executives Jason O’Connor and Alfread Gomez are serving prison sentences in China. The group was alleged to have operated a sizeable marketing team within China, and to have implemented aggressive sales targets to achieve its aims there.

Lawsuit highlights massive gambling gains

The allegations center around an aggressive marketing strategy by Crown, which targeted VIP gamers and offered them a host of luxury services – including large amounts of credit.

Following the case breaking last year and the arrest of several notable Crown employees and executives, an industry expert told The Australian Financial Review that up to 50% of the China VIP market could have been lost.

The group has since reshuffled its top team and appointed John Alexander as chairman, which has brought some stability to the company and to its share prices. Packer has also rejoined the Crown board for now.